I continue a few thoughts here from my last post where I talked about how my generation moved from handwriting to typewriting to the world of word processors and beyond.

I can’t help but think it ironic that in the time when we wrote letters and some of us perhaps wrote diaries, there really was so much to write. And we actually wrote! I’m not sure how things run in schools and colleges these days, but being from the Humanities stream, I remember writing reference notes for hours sitting in the college library. I do not remember what exactly I wrote in those 3-hour long exams – but I know my answer sheet booklet was full. Now, I doubt I can write one paragraph without making a mistake. What’s worse, I’m sure I will miss the keyboard after I’ve jotted the first sentence.  

I did not spend much time in the typewriting phase – just that bit that was necessary to write (type) for the typewriting exam. I went on to build my career in technical writing. That involves a whole lot of word processors and other content writing and content management software. But that I do for a living. My letter writing has died down completely. The last diary I maintained was perhaps 15 years back. I’m still in touch with friends and family the world over, but that communication too has graduated from snail mail, to email, to IM (Instant Messaging), to poking, to messaging on WhatsApp.

Isn’t it strange that we have tools that help us write quickly, easily and more accurately (thanks to Spell check and Grammar check) but our abilities to actually write have diminished significantly? We rely on all sorts of short forms and emoticons. Right from GM, LOL, FYI, BRB, and BFN to a host of emoticons, we seem to be challenged when it comes to expressing ourselves using words, sentences, paragraphs. Those absolutely adorable emoticons/emojis are so handy, why not use them and appear peppy? Appear young and happening?

It took us thousands of years to develop a language and write and express in it, write remarkable prose and poetry in it, and now all we can do is send grins and smileys? Are we moving at a rapid pace towards the Stone Age? Is this what is meant when people say that all things are cyclical? I mean what’s the difference between a Stone Age drawing in a cave and our emoticons (except that ours are on smart phones and other devices)? It does not seem very smart to me to be losing track and sense of language like this.

BRB with a new post soon. BFN :)

I remember all through middle school, that’s Class VI, VII, and VIII the emphasis our English teachers laid on improving our handwriting. Twice a week, we had to submit one page of writing — the piece of writing could be from a newspaper, magazine, book, or our own textbooks. The subject matter was not important — what was important was that we wrote. The teachers were misers when it came to marks. I remember moving from scores of 4 ¾ to 7 ½ in those three years. I loved to write letters to friends over the years (that were full of spelling errors) but I got quite a few compliments for my handwriting back then. Now, I think ten times before I write out a cheque!

Somewhere after my Class X exams, I attended typewriting classes. I found it strange that I had to repeatedly punch asdfgf;lkjhj and then later qwertrpoiuyu and so on. I never could imagine why on earth those letters were placed that way anyway — I mean, how could anyone ever write sensibly with those letters thrown about that way? I especially hated the fact that the ‘a’ was always lighter on the typewritten sheet (since it was typed with the little finger of the left hand). I always tried my best to give the ‘a’ a stronger stroke. And the noise! Oh God! The noise a typewriter is capable of making! One had to hit the keys hard to produce a good impression on paper. And the noise each time one reached the end of the line (for a carriage return)! I wonder now, how it was ever possible to actually think while typewriting. Maybe it was not! As I graduated to typing sentences, the rule was to have once space after a comma and two spaces after a full stop. There was also no distinction between an en dash and an em dash. So usually, we had to punch the hyphen twice to get a near approximation. Imagine the day when I got to typing ‘The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs’! In any case, typewriting and I never really were best of friends. I preferred to put pen to paper any day.

Then came the cyber revolution. I resisted this move to Word processors for quite a while. Initially, I could never think and type on the keyboard or even type and think for that matter. I drafted the stuff on paper and then moved it to a ‘soft’ copy. Slowly, painfully slowly, I was able to think and type and type and think. It was a whole new world of the backspace and the delete. And best of all, one did not have to punch the keys as hard like on the good old typewriter. Ah! I was actually beginning to enjoy technology! I marveled at the using the ^B to make words and sentences bold and how easy it was to move text around. These days we have hundreds of fonts to choose from and with a click of a few buttons here and there we can improve the look and feel of any seemingly dull document. I admit I no longer am a fan of putting pen to paper. My handwriting sucks!